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Seven Minutes With God

In 1882, a Cambridge University student was so determined to pray and read his Bible every morning that he rigged a contraption to help him get out of bed. The vibration of an alarm clock set fishing tacking in motion and the sheets, clipped to the line, moved into the air. Here was a young man who wanted to get up to meet his God!

If you need help getting a “quiet time” established in your life, consider the following outline for spending seven minutes with God. Bob Foster, the long-time Navigator who originally wrote this outline, said, “Do not become devoted to the habit, but to the Savior. Do it not because other men are doing it—not as a spiritless duty every morning, not merely as an end in itself, but because God has granted the priceless privilege of fellowship with Himself.”
How do you spend these seven minutes?

½ Minute
Invest the first 30 seconds preparing your heart. You might pray, “Lord, cleanse my heart so You can speak to me through the Scriptures. Make my mind alert, my soul active, and my heart responsive. Surround me with Your presence during this time.”

4 Minutes
Take the next four minutes to read the Bible. Your greatest need is to hear a word from God. Allow the Word to strike fire in your heart. Meet the Author!

2½ Minutes
After God has spoken through His Book, then speak to Him in prayer. One method is to incorporate four areas of prayer that you can remember with the word ACTS.

    A    Adoration. This is the purest kind of prayer because it’s all for God. Tell the Lord that you love Him. Reflect on His greatness.

    C    Confession. Having seen Him, you now want to be sure every sin is cleansed and forsaken. “Confession” comes from a root word meaning “to agree together with.” When we apply this to prayer, it means we agree with God’s estimation of what we’ve done.

    T    Thanksgiving. Think of several specific things to thank Him for: your family, your business, your church—even thank Him for hardships.

    S    Supplication. This means to “ask for, earnestly and humbly.” Ask for others, then ask for yourself. Include people around the world, missionaries, friends, and those who have yet to hear about Jesus.

It all adds up to seven minutes. “This is simply a guide,” Bob emphasized. “Very soon you will discover that it is impossible to spend only seven minutes with the Lord. An amazing thing happens—seven minutes become 20, and it’s not long before you’re spending 30 precious minutes with Him.”

To order copies of the booklet Seven Minutes with God,  go to the NavPress website at www.navpress.com or call 1 (800) 366-7788.